Thanksgiving Delights!

We have arrived back home from a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We had a great 5 days hanging out with the Sellers family in Myrtle Beach. The Georgians came up and we had a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixins'. Afterwards, we battled up in a Sellers family football match. I was paired with Chad, Rick (my father-in-law), Ashley (cousin), and Cathy (sis-in-law). We held our own and made 9 touchdowns. Only 1 short of winning, darn it! But, to our defense, we were playing against 4 boys, 3 of which were under 25 years old. So, the teams were a little lop-sided, but it was a lot of fun! As usual, I paid for the fun by being super-sore the next day, but I have a feeling those 40+ year olds were doing even worse than me. Here's a pic of our team during the after-match recovery period.

Glad to say that yours truly had 3 or 4 touchdowns of her own. Not without the help of my lovely teammates/quarterbacks. Maybe next year we can take the title!

We spent the night at a beach house while we were there with the cousins and had a good time playing Catch Phrase, Uno, & Spades. Games are fun with family. We had some good laughs. This was our cool beach house from the front. Four bedroom, 4 1/2 bath sounds like my future beach house to own!! It was beautiful!

It was so nice getting to sit at the same table as my hubby during Thanksgiving. And the turkey was MMM MMMM GOOOODDD....

Elf Yourself!

Before I have you click on the link below, I want to preface it with the fact that my lifelong best friend Nicole has been quite sick, & bored, & created it and sent it to me in an e-mail today. I got a good laugh out of it, so I thought I'd share the fun-having. I'm sure some of you have seen them before, but she went out of her way to find some of the worst/funny pictures of each of us before uploading them to the elf-heads. You may not recognize mine, because I have one of my famous 'ugly faces' on. It's bad...but it's funny.

The elves include myself, Chad, Kyla (her lil sis), Elya (the blonde, my other best friend), & Nicole herself. It's cute and happy. Please enjoy...

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/r2kPnJZOTlYHHUhnsW33

Go have some fun & make one of your own! :) Happy elfing!

Ohhh Christmas Tree...

I thought I would share a pic of our very first Christmas tree together with all of you. Of course, the picture doesn't depict it in its true lit-up beauty, but you get the idea (sorry it's sideways, but I couldn't get it to rotate). We chose gold & burgandy because they are warm and cozy colors & classy, you might say. Since this picture was taken, we added some burgandy, glittery snowflakes that really add some fun sparkle. I'm just too lazy to take and upload a new picture.

I got most of our gifts bought & wrapped already. I know, I know...sounds crazy, but we have a good reason, I promise. We are spending Christmas in Myrtle Beach as I've said before. But we are going to have to fly to MB from Little Rock, AR which means luggage limits & in my case, no room for presents :). Therefore, we have to have presents bought, wrapped, and ready to take with us on Wednesday to his parent's house for Thanksgiving. Talk about feeling ahead of the game! I've never been this far ahead of things, so early! I have to admit, I enjoy the thought of not being stressed in December. It's going to be fabulous enjoying the holidays and cold wintery weather with my hubby. Yay for the Christmas season right around the corner!

Page 56 Rules:

"Flower & fruit grew together on the same tree & everywhere was the scent of ripeness & the booming of a million bees at pasture."

*From Lord of the Flies by William Golding*

Rules:
-Grab the closest book near you.
-Turn to page 56.
-Find the 5th sentence.
-Post what it reads.

Don't cheat, just grab what's nearest you & share what it says. :)

Holiday Planning...

I'll start this post by saying how much I love this time of year! Thanksgiving is fabulous and then it's followed by my favorite part of every year...CHRISTMAS time!! So much good food, family fun, and memories to be made. This year is different from every other year passed. This year, I finally get to spend my favorite time of the year with my favorite person on this planet...my hubby. We are also getting to spend the holidays with his side of the family for the first time, so it's going to be really fun & new!

Next Wednesday, we are heading to Myrtle Beach to spend Thanksgiving with the Sellers family. I'm so excited about some yummy turkey, dressing, & the fixin's. And we can't forget the super-delectible cherry pie! Woo-hoo! Even the Georgian Sellers are coming! It should be a blast!

Then, for Christmas, we are going to spend it with Chad's family again at the beach. It's gonna be fun and interesting to be included in the Seller's Christmas family traditions. Unfortunately, we aren't going to be able to go to Texas to see my family at all during the holidays for the first time in 24 years. It's gonna be kinda weird, but I'll get over it. We still have plenty of Christmas' in the future to spend in Texas!

Then, we're leaving there for Boston where our friends Joey & Laura live. We're going to spend a day or two with them in Boston before we all head up to New York City for New Years in Times Square! We are all sooooo excited about that trip! I have always wanted to go to NY during the winter. Maybe if we are lucky, we'll see snow in the big city! I can't wait to ice skate in Rockefeller Center & to see the huge Christmas tree in Central Park. Not to mention, to be in Central Park while the ball drops & everyone freaks out over the turn of the new year. Big coats, scarves, beanies, & friends! Come on 2009! :)

I am currently waiting to push 'go' on our plane ticket reservations and I just can't wait for all of these celebrations to happen! Yay!

iPod Heaven...

I just stole (with permission) soooo much good music from my in-law's iTunes. They have everything from Merle Haggard to The Wreckers to Nat King Cole's Christmas to the Eagles. Talk about all kinds of great stuff...that was only four of the albums I got! There were about 300 other songs I stole too! I'm very excited for the ride home tomorrow. We're gonna be jammin' out to all kinds of great stuff & different genres! I'll post more tomorrow! Good night to good tunes! :)

MMMM

I'm about to bite into a piece of my mother-in-law's homemade cherry pie & it's going to be OH-SOOOOO-GOOOOOOD! You should be jealous, my friends. But don't worry, I'll enjoy my piece for you.

Happiness Found...

Sorry for my absence! So much has happened since I last posted. Therefore, I think a bullet post may be of sorts here:


*I am officially HOME!! Chad & I got here on Sunday afternoon & it is oh-so-wonderful to be back. But, with every return home after 5 months, there are hiccups. The hiccups began as soon as we walked in our front door. The first thing Chad said was, "whaaat is that smell?!". As I took a breath in I also experienced the rotten, moldy, nasty stench of yuckiness in the air. Hmmm, what could that smell be?! As we search for the source, I come upon our washing machine, half-full of stagnant water that had been there, rotting away for at least a week or two. The culprit? Little cousin Travis who came over to wash clothes in our ghetto washing machine that only I know the tricks to. He got here, filled the washer with water & I guess couldn't figure out how to use it, so he gave up and left it. Ending in a disgusting smell for us to come home to. A little bleach & a couple cycles of water later, the smell had almost left the machine. The rest of the house though had to be aired out so we opened both doors, set the fan up to blow it out, lit some candles, & moved on. haha. Thank goodness that is over.


*Then, we turned the A/C on. Only to realize that the inside of it had been completely frozen over & no air was circulating like it's supposed to. We then open the intake to see what we could do. So we turned the emergency heat on and made it defrost. Seven sopping towels later, we had an iceless A/C again. We had to call in the reinforcements on Monday to come check on it because it froze up again overnight on Sunday. They put a dye pack in it to find where the free-on leak is and hopefully it will be completely fixed in a couple of weeks. Being that this is the 4th person we've had come out and check on it, we're kinda frustrated with the darn thing. But, what can you do?! At least its becoming winter and it works for the most part. Whew!


*Moving on to happy things! I've been complaining about the ghetto-ness of our washing machine for a long time. And finally, I won! The hubby finally gave in and agreed with me that his $75 dollar 80's style washer/dryer combo that he bought in college weren't up to par for us anymore. So, we ordered some from Home Depot and had them delivered yesterday afternoon. Hallelujah!!! I've since caught us up on laundry, including all of his desert stuff, and nine loads later, everything is CLEAN! And the amazing part is it only took me like 6 hours to do it all! As opposed to the 20 hours it would have taken on old machines! I'm so happy with them! My hubby is wonderful!


*Tuesday was Veteran's Day & Chad & I had a great day to spend together. We ate lunch at Olive Garden, went shopping for Christmas decorations at Hobby Lobby, checked out the going out of business sale at Linens 'N Things, bought some Yankee Christmas candles, & went Christmas tree shopping at Home Depot. We came home with all of our goodies & couldn't wait to set it all up....so we did. I know, I know, we will probably get a lot of crap from everybody for setting up for Christmas so early, but here is our reason why. We are going to Arkansas Dec. 15th-19th and therefore, only have a month between now & then to enjoy our Christmas decorations. You would do it too if you were us & hadn't spent a Christmas together in 3 years, so there! haha. It's very pretty and we leave it lit up all the time :)! I love the winter & Christmas time!


*I spent all day today folding all 9 loads of clothes and putting them away. A ridiculous feat, but I finally got it all done! Thank goodness that's over!


*The temperature isn't quite cold here yet. It's a perfect 65 or so during the daytime. Today was rather dreary too, so it's trying its hardest to feel wintery.


*Tomorrow we leave to go to Myrtle Beach to visit Chad's parents for the weekend. We are very excited to see them and get to spend some good time with them. I haven't seen them since before Chad left and he only got to see them for about 30 minutes the day he returned, so they better be ready to be bombarded by us!


*We have also been catching up on all of our crazy shows this week! We have about 2 weeks worth to catch up on & it's been really fun. Some good tv to watch out there! I hope you're not missing out on it all!


Here are a couple pics from this past weekend:

Go Cocks!

Tomorrow is the day... The big football game day! University of South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at 1:00pm tomorrow afternoon. We are all going to be there to see it all go down! Tailgating starts at about 10:30 and then we get to all sit our pretty butts down and enjoy the stadium, the music, the cheering, the big band, & family time together while it all happens! We are excited!

Dun-da-da-da-da-da-da-dun...Go Cocks!

15 Quirks of Yours Truly...

1. I refuse to drink milk directly, but will use it in my morning cereal & for cooking purposes.
2. I have to have Chapstick within reach at all times during every day or I become a chapped lips hypochondriac. An application must take place before I go to sleep.
3. I'm addicted to comfy blankets and continue to buy them despite the fact that I have enough as it is and could provide warmth to half of our city, haha.
4. I am a sucker for chocolate & cappuccinos. I, too, think a Starbucks cup goes with any outfit during any season. :)
5. When I buy a gift, I have to be the one that wraps it, to make sure it's done the prettiest way possible and I often wrap it right after I buy it.
6. I usually get up to pee during the night at least once. But I love the sheets & comfort you return to when you get back in bed.
7. I love the smell of burnt gasoline. It takes me to times that remind me of being on a lake in a boat or sea-doo, on a four-wheeler, or in a go-cart. Those are some of my favorite memories.
8. I scan the area around me any time I'm by myself in public and also think about my first moves in any case in which I may be attacked. I sometimes freak myself out in parking lots...mostly at night. But I've been lucky so far.
9. Dollar Tree is one of my favorite stores. Cheapo, I know.
10. I have to have music on while I'm taking a shower & getting ready. It gives me an extra energy for my whole process.
11. I can't sleep in socks under any circumstances. It suffocates me, haha.
12. Hammocks could take over as beds for all I care. They make me happy.
13. Penguins and anything penguin related makes me smile. Don't know why, maybe it's their waddle.
14. Seasonal decorations in my house have to have at least a little bit of continuity among them. Everything has to go with everything else. We'll see how that goes this winter!
15. I hate pulp in any fruity drinks, especially orange juice. Gross & slimy.

The Finish Line...

Man am I happy to be out of the car for the next couple of days. We drove for 20 hours, a.k.a. 1200 miles, in the last 48 hours. Needless to say, the whining about my back was continuous and annoying all day today. My poor hubby tried to console me and make me happy, but the pain was ridiculous. And we were both just SOOO tired of being stuck in such a small space for so long.

I think the radio & the beautiful trees of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, & South Carolina are what kept us pressing on. It's amazing how pretty God's earth is this time of year. This is the first Fall that I have been able to experience in this area & it is a whole different world of beauty. I saw some of the brightest red, yellow, & orange trees today. And they are all mixed and blended with each other, creating a magnificently bright plethora of color. It really was fun to drive down the road between two walls of beauty and nature. But, thank goodness we are finally in South Carolina to live happily for 3 or 4 days before we have to climb back into the car for our FINAL return home. Please pray for my back to recover & for our country's new president-elect. Thanks & goodnight.

Mississippi Night...

Well, we are halfway done with our journey back to the east coast. I am currently on my laptop in our hotel room in Jackson. We are in between watching tv & trying to keep up with the election hoo-rah. Too bad McCain isn't pulling a little more votes his way. I'm quite nervous about the potential outcome, but I'm still staying open-minded. It's not over til the fat lady sings, right?! Not only that...but we have seen some pretty crazy things happen in some of these elections. I'm just praying that a saving grace like that can be sent down from above at this moment in time. Come on McCain & Palin!

In other news, my back is killing me from being couped up in the car for so long at a time & I'm totally not looking forward to another 9 or 10 hours tomorrow. Yuck. But, I'm excited to get back to our home in NC. It'll be a glorious day.

I'm very excited about getting a shower & going to SLEEP tonight. And Cracker Barrel for breakfast in the morning! Woo-hoo! :) Goodnight & good luck, America!

Here, There, & Everywhere...

Hey everyone! It's good to be back and able to report that our cruise was fant-abulous! We had a great time and it was the perfect length of relaxation and vacation happiness. We rode ATV's through the Mexican jungle & snorkeled in Cozumel & rode horseback at a resort in Progreso. Those were both awesome & the weather was beautiful. We also spent a pretty penny on pampering ourselves on the ship. We got our first Hot Stone couples massage that was magnificent and I got a mani/pedi while he got a professional shave. He looked hot. haha. It was super-duper. The rest of the time we spent napping, watching movies, playing Roulette, & dancing in the clubs. Good times. Pics & more to come later in the week.


Champagne & sunsets...MMMM


We are heading out for South Carolina tomorrow morning so I will be out of touch & having fun at the USC football extravaganza this weekend. I will have more to report then! Have a great week! :)